Forced to retire at the age of 26 after the clash of heads with Gary Cahill in January 2017. Itís a shame to see especially at his age he had lots of potential in him and only really just got his career started. Hope he finds something else in life and donít struggle with the consequences of this freak accident.

Ryan was not the most gifted of players, but made up for it with his incredible desire and work rate.
100% EVERY time he pulled on the shirt and seems a decent guy as well.

A proper Spurs man since he joined as an eight year old and
hopefully the club can find him a coaching role or at the very least an ambassador role on matchdays.

On social media there are calls for a Testimonial match to open the new stadium which would be very well received by the fans although I suspect there are plans already in place for some "razamataz" pre season tournament to open the place....and rake in fortunes.

A very sad day for anyone to have to quit their sport at such a low age. Ryan has my sympathy but at the same time at 26 he's young enough to start a new life for himself.

While I wouldn't disagree with Martino's suggestion, in the 13 months Ryan has been out injured he has earned £1.7m (at £30k/week which may be pessimistic) so I would suggest Gordon Taylor (or anyone else with a few coppers to spare) gets behind this very deserving cause...

Very sad for the lad. Hope he is successful in his next career path. Just signed that petition Pete . No surprise to see Neville Southall involved .l wish there was a few more former top players like Neville. My two grandsons( 8 and 11) both play junior football. They have hardly had a game this winter. All the local grass pitches are waterlogged. The eleven year old ' s team have been forced to try and play games in an all weather cage. These are okay for practice, but distinctly dodgy for a full scale match. He picked up a bad head injury( hospital) the other week after being sent flying into the metal cage surrounding the pitch. With all the money in the Premier League , surely kids deserve better than this. I will get others to sign this petition.ls there anyway Pete that this petition could have it's own link on this forum under it's own heading?

Very sad for the lad. Hope he is successful in his next career path. Just signed that petition Pete . No surprise to see Neville Southall involved .l wish there was a few more former top players like Neville. My two grandsons( 8 and 11) both play junior football. They have hardly had a game this winter. All the local grass pitches are waterlogged. The eleven year old ' s team have been forced to try and play games in an all weather cage. These are okay for practice, but distinctly dodgy for a full scale match. He picked up a bad head injury( hospital) the other week after being sent flying into the metal cage surrounding the pitch. With all the money in the Premier League , surely kids deserve better than this. I will get others to sign this petition.ls there anyway Pete that this petition could have it's own link on this forum under it's own heading?

OK, Pie, I'll start one later. Good idea. Meanwhile this will feature in the new thread but it's worth an airing here.

Sutton United have an all-weather 3G pitch which plays perfectly and allows usage 24/7. It cost about £500,000 to install. Gone are the days of QPR's trampoline pitch from the 80's to play on. When you are watching you barely notice it's not a natural surface. Sliding tackles do not leave burn marks on buttocks. United allow schools to use it, host concerts, train on it, and another team (Sutton Common Rovers) plays on it when United are away.

Now the EFL have told Sutton (and Bromley and Maidstone) that if they are promoted at the end of this season, and they DON'T rip it up and install grass, they will face a double relegation to the Vanarama South.

The EFL would sooner teams play on Rochdale-type pitches than a 3G pitch.

As a Hull fan and someone who was at the game in the away end that day, itís a very sad end to his career. There had been some suggestions he would be cleared though with the aid of a Ďhelmetí style head gear but alas, it isnít to be.

Strange how the timing for these things usually works out. On a Friday night Hull will be heading back to Chelsea for the first time since that incident - it would have had a sort of poetic justice about it had that been the game to mark a comeback rather than a retirement.

We were lucky to have him on loan at Swindon in 2013-14; he suffered from a few injuries then but when he did play he was class at League One level. We also had Alex Pritchard on loan that season who has just moved to Huddersfield.

Anyway, i hope he is ok and gets himself a new career, health is the most important thing and there's no point him risking playing on if it caused him further problems.

Joined: 05 Aug 2012Posts: 2996Location: the very western edge of Aberdeen

Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 10:49 pm
Post subject:

The sort of injury/occurrence that any player risks each time he takes the field.
Feel a bit, too, for Gary Cahill who, though no blame attached to him, must still feel somewhat culpable, human nature being what it is.
It's crucial that Mason doesn't dwell on what might have been and uses any insurance payout to either finance an alternative career path or as a buffer while he retrains in whatever field he opts for._________________http://www.flickr.com/photos/derby1884/sets/